Moments after opening the throttle and coaxing the red and white Cessna 172RG into the air, Luke Matchett smiled behind his sunglasses and admitted that even after 500 hours in the cockpit, he never gets tired of flying.

“It’s really rewarding,” the young pilot said as he banked the aircraft over downtown Saskatoon. “The ultimate goal is to fly for an airline, but right now I’m enjoying every step of the way.”

Matchett is one of thousands of pilots to earn their wings at Mitchinson Flight Centre (MFC), where he now works as a flying instructor. The company has outlasted dozens of other aviation businesses; this weekend, it will celebrate its 70th anniversary.

Mitchinson Flight Centre instructor Luke Matchett in the cockpit of a Cessna 172RG.

MFC president Dan Glass and his business partners — Jim Guenther, Jon Kirzinger and Dale Tiedeman — completed flight training at MFC and work as airline pilots. In 2013, they bought the business to help train a new generation of pilots.

“I want to put back into the industry what I got out of it, same as everybody else, (and) the new generation of pilots need mentorship,” said Tiedeman, who splits his time between MFC and WestJet.

Glass said buying the business was an attractive proposition. Not everyone can spell its name, but its former owners spent decades cultivating a reputation that persists today, he said.

Harold Mitchinson founded MFC in 1946, after returning from the Royal Air Force, where he taught young Commonwealth pilots to fly and fight. His love of flying was complete, according to the Saskatchewan Aviation Historical Society’s executive director.

“He had a J3 Piper Cub (and) he would scoot home in the airplane and then fly back to work and carry on … That love of flight, it was just there all the time,” Tim Munro said.

In 1983, Mitchinson sold the business to Janet Keim, an Air Canada pilot who remains a pillar of Saskatchewan’s tight-knit aviation community. She sold the business to its current owners in 2013 but remains an active flight instructor.

Munro said MFC was a “grassroots” business that opened the doors to countless young people who dreamt of flying, and that it has flourished because all of its owners are madly in love with flying airplanes.

“(Mitchinson) was a gentleman that was more than happy to teach anyone, and of course when Janet took over she shared that, and the guys now … they share that same passion,” Munro said.

Pilots who soloed for the first time in MFC’s airplanes work at airlines and aviation companies around the world, according to the Saskatchewan Aviation Council’s vice-president.

“(MFC) has a great reputation. They’re one that continually looks for ways of innovation (and) attracted talent to be part of that organization,” Dennis Baranieski said.

Aviation has never been an easy industry.

Glass said rising costs — on average, students spend $11,000 to earn their wings — and regulatory changes have narrowed margins for everyone. The recent economic downturn wasn’t much help either, he added.

At the same time, the business is expanding and pilots are in demand, especially overseas. Glass said MFC, which operates 12 aircraft and employs about a dozen people, recently bought a $150,000 simulator and is eyeing the purchase of yet another aircraft.

Before that happens, MFC’s owners are throwing a party. On Saturday, the business will host a celebration of its history and future and, of course, its new owners’ love of flying.

“I can’t see myself doing anything else,” Tiedeman said of his career. “Even if I didn’t own the place I’d be hanging out here.”

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